Let’s face it- we’ve all come up with New Year’s resolutions that sound great in our heads but seem impossible to actually accomplish. What if I said that this year it doesn’t have to be that way? What if new goals don’t have to be unrealistic? The start of a new year is the perfect time to start fresh and put your mind to new intentions. Here are three tips on how to actually attain your goals and resolutions.

Be Realistic

While fully learning a new language in a week and running a marathon with little training are definitely goals, they are not realistic whatsoever. Achieving your goals requires some realism and a little bit of honesty. When setting goals and resolutions for the new year, ask yourself if the goal is within reach, what your expectations are and what your end result will look like. Being honest with yourself is pivotal when it comes to wanting to achieve your overall desired outcome. Having goals is a great way to make sure you’re on the right track, and when they are realistic, your chances of success ultimately increases.

Allow For Mistakes and Be Specific

Mistakes are going to happen whether we like it or not. While they can certainly knock us down a few pegs on our road to achievement, they shouldn’t discourage us from our final destination. Allowing mistakes to happen can help us in the long run by giving us great opportunities to learn and grow. Minor setbacks and errors can allow us to build much needed resilience mentally and physically. One of the most popular 2023 New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight, coming in at about 40% of people while 52% want to exercise more frequently. Allowing mistakes doesn’t just pertain to life itself, but also to goal setting. “Losing weight” and “working out often” are pretty broad goals to start off with, and most people make this same mistake of creating goals that are not specific enough. On the contrary, going into more detail with what you want to accomplish can really make a difference. For example, if your New Year’s resolution is to go to the gym everyday, how would you accomplish that? On the days when you feel unmotivated or when running low on energy, how would you push yourself to keep going? When constructing the perfect New Year’s resolutions or even when planning for the future, specificity and allowing yourself to make mistakes. We are human after all, so it’s crucial.

Reward Yourself

When working towards your goal, it’s important to actually reward yourself on the little checkpoints along the way. It can be difficult to embrace the mindset that rewarding yourself is essential, but it will help extraordinarily during your goal setting journey. Rewarding yourself doesn’t have to be something as big as going on a shopping spree or getting a new phone. Taking a relaxing bubble bath, eating your favorite ice cream or getting a croissant at a local coffee shop are simple ways to reward all the progress you’ve made. The small steps ultimately lead up to the big goal you have in mind, and a little self praise along the way will not only motivate you to keep going but also push you to get to the end result of your goal.

As you take these tips into the new year, you’re sure to feel refreshed and hopefully not as stressed about completing your resolutions. Don’t forget to take those rest days and have a wonderful new year!